Every year, an estimated 1,400 college students die from alcohol poisoning.

This statistic and others addressing the topic of campus drinking were presented last night at the HUB-Robeson Center's Alumni Hall as Patty Spady, founder of The Student Alcohol Management (SAM) Spady Foundation and mother of Samantha Spady, the Colorado State University student who died of alcohol poisoning two years ago, addressed the Penn State greek community.

"What happened to Sam is that she drank too much and she drank too fast," Spady said.

Samantha Spady died of acute alcohol poisoning on September 5, 2004, at the beginning of her sophomore year at Colorado State University. Samantha, known as Sam, died after a day of drinking to celebrate the rivalry football game between Colorado State and Colorado University. When Sam was unable to walk home from a party, she was left in an empty room of a fraternity house to sleep it off, and later died, Spady said.

The SAM Spady Foundation, which was created following Sam's death, works to raise awareness of alcohol poisoning on college campuses and the dangers of binge drinking.

"I just want everyone here to be able to recognize [alcohol poisoning] so that no one has to die in this preventable manner," Spady said.

Spady also said a major factor contributing to alcohol poisoning is the popularity of competitive drinking.

"Drinking is not a numbers game. It's a game of Russian Roulette. What one person can handle could kill the next person," she said.

The film, Death by Alcohol: The Sam Spady Story, was shown at the program to address the issue of a blurred line between safe drinking behaviors and those that are dangerous and deadly.

"As simple and unremarkable as death by alcohol sounds, it's killing thousands of our best and brightest every year, and there are few signs that this epidemic is coming to an end," the film said.

The mission of the SAM Spady Foundation is not to eliminate drinking on college campuses, said Mark Briscoe, the Executive Director of the Sigma Pi fraternity. Sam was found dead at the Colorado State's chapter of Sigma Pi.

"We are very exclusively centered on preventing alcohol poisoning," Briscoe said.

The foundation is working to institute a good Samaratin law that will prevent those who seek help on behalf of someone suffering from alcohol poisoning from actually getting in trouble themselves, Briscoe added.

Cards were distributed to attendees that listed the symptoms of alcohol poisoning.

Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life Kevin Kerr said that he believes real life stories such as Sam's will influence student's actions.

"I believe that anything like this will have an impact on individuals as they make choices," he said.

The film said that college drinking has become more excessive across the country in the last ten years.

"We're looking at ways to address the drinking culture at Penn State, and this is one way that we are looking to do that," Kerr said.

The presentation was brought to campus by the Sigma Pi fraternity and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life.

"Just watch out for one another," Spady said as she concluded her speech. "I'm not trying to kill your college experience. I just want you to survive it."